Yo, Yueshu, how have you been lately?"
After a long time, Minato Namikaze appeared before Yueshu once more.
"Eh? Minato, weren't you on a mission?"
School had just let out, and Yueshu, bored, was strolling down the street when he bumped into Minato Namikaze.
"I just got back. There haven't been as many missions lately, so I finally have some free time."
Minato Namikaze was still the same, with a warm smile.
"How is it, Genin?"
"Not bad, but the missions are still very simple, like finding things, there are many such missions."
"Well, everything starts from the small things."
"That's a good saying."
"Haha, speaking of which, who was your Jonin instructor? If you graduated early, you shouldn't have joined a graduating class squad, right?"
As Yueshu finished speaking, Minato Namikaze's eyes brightened a bit.
"Speaking of that, you would never guess who my Jonin instructor is."
"Oh?"
Yueshu became curious, as it made Minato Namikaze seem so excited.
"Do you know about the Second Shinobi World War? During that great war, Konoha produced three great Ninja, the Sannin."
Minato Namikaze spoke slowly, and the more Yueshu listened, the more he felt something was off.
"My Jonin instructor is one of the Sannin."
"Jiraiya?"
Yueshu was surprised and glanced at Minato Namikaze.
"How did you know?"
"Alright."
Yueshu was speechless.
He hadn't expected it to actually be Jiraiya; this truly caught Yueshu off guard.
Jiraiya shouldn't be in Konoha at this time.
"Then where is he now?"
Yueshu asked.
"Jiraiya Sensei? He was just with me, but then he suddenly disappeared while we were walking."
Minato Namikaze rubbed his hair, also without a clue.
"Ahhh!"
A delicate cry rang out, immediately attracting both Yueshu and Minato Namikaze.
"There's a pervert!"
It seemed there was indeed a pervert.
"————"
Yueshu already knew what was going on. Jiraiya was back, and someone was shouting about a pervert. Anyone who had watched Hokage would put these two things together.
Jiraiya's image wasn't that of a Sannin, but rather the Pervert Sage.
"Let's go take a look."
Minato Namikaze, full of a sense of justice, wouldn't just stand there if he heard about a pervert. After the cry fell, he spoke, preparing to head towards the source of the sound.
"Although I don't think you should go, I'll still follow."
Yueshu looked at Minato Namikaze, his eyes full of sympathy.
This silly child still didn't know that the great Sannin he thought so highly of was actually a gentleman.
"Hiss, that hurts. Those young girls don't know how to go easy. I just peeked a few times."
On the other side, a man with slightly long white hair crouched on the ground, gently touching his face.
"Hey."
"Hmm?"
Hearing someone call from behind, Jiraiya subconsciously turned his head.
"It's you. Are you the pervert from just now?"
Although he already knew, Yueshu still feigned ignorance.
"Jiraiya Sensei, what are you doing here? Yueshu couldn't be telling the truth, could he?"
"I————"
Jiraiya couldn't come up with any excuse for a moment.
Yueshu watched Jiraiya from the side; his otherwise decent face was now swollen, looking like a pig's head.
"Speaking of which, Minato, what are you doing here? And you, over there, aren't you that child from back then? How are things in Konoha, are you doing well?"
Jiraiya coughed, stood up straight, and tried to change the subject.
"I was just strolling over there and ran into Yueshu on the way."
Minato Namikaze was still naive and was immediately distracted by Jiraiya.
"Is that so? What a coincidence, me too."
Jiraiya quickly rounded the topic back, while Yueshu watched silently from the side.
"Himegami Yueshu, right? How is Konoha, not bad, is it?"
"Yes, not bad. Thank you for your help back then."
"That's great! Don't thank me. I am the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Ji—rai—ya."
"Hmm, Pervert Sage."
Yueshu nodded, and Jiraiya, who was striking a pose, immediately fell to the ground.
"Not Pervert Sage! It's Toad Sage!"
"I'm sorry."
"That's too casual, isn't it?"
Yueshu's expression was very calm, while Jiraiya kept complaining from the side.
"Haha, Jiraiya Sensei and Yueshu have a really good relationship."
"That's an illusion."
Yueshu immediately replied.
"No hesitation?"
Jiraiya covered his chest with a sad expression.
"Hehe."
Minato Namikaze smiled; he thought the way Jiraiya and Yueshu interacted was quite good.
Just after noon, near the Konoha bathhouse, Yueshu and the Jiraiya master-and-disciple duo met by chance.
"Speaking of which, I never thought Tsunade would take you in."
The three of them, Yueshu, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze, sat in a dango shop. Jiraiya, in the name of a senior, offered to treat Yueshu and Minato Namikaze to dango.
The five-color dango, an old Konoha shop, was Anko Mitarashi's favorite snack in the original work.
"Is that so? I think Lady Tsunade is a very kind person."
Minato Namikaze took a bite of dango and interjected.
"That's not what I meant. It's that Tsunade's status doesn't allow her to just take anyone in casually."
Jiraiya also took a bite of dango; the master and disciple were still master and disciple, after all, they had many similarities.
"I don't know about that, but I'm still very grateful to Tsunade."
Yueshu also took a bite of the dango, the same dango that Anko Mitarashi loved so much in the original work.
It was sweet, a bit sticky, but overall very good. It truly lived up to being one of Konoha's old shops; the taste was excellent, and the price was cheap.
"Speaking of which, you won against Minato in your previous duel, right? How about it, do you have any thoughts of graduating early?"
Jiraiya stopped talking about Tsunade and shifted the topic to Yueshu.
"That's right."
Yueshu glanced at Jiraiya, who was also looking at him.
"How about it? If you graduate early, I can be your Jonin instructor. Anyway, I'm only teaching Minato alone right now."
"This is a rare opportunity, you know."
"How rare?"
"The Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku can be your Jonin instructor, it's a rare opportunity."
"Indeed, it's rare for the Pervert Sage to be a Jonin instructor."
"Hey, hey, change that title for me!"
"No."
"Tch, what an unlikable brat."
"Yueshu, you should graduate early too."
Minato Namikaze said softly.
"Being in the same squad, doing missions together, and with Jiraiya Sensei, the three of us, it sounds great."
As Minato Namikaze spoke, Yueshu, who was beside him, also imagined that scene.
It must be said, this was indeed a great idea. Both Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were characters related to the original story, and both were top-tier powerhouses, dozens of times stronger than those in the academy. A normal person would probably choose this path without hesitation.
"I'll consider it."
With Minato Namikaze saying that, even Yueshu didn't refuse as readily as before.
School life was boring, and being a Genin wasn't bad either; he could still slack off if he wanted to.
"Mm."
Minato Namikaze smiled. Yueshu was his best friend, and his only male friend. He would be very happy if they could be in the same squad.
"Alright."
Jiraiya suddenly stood up. Yueshu and Minato Namikaze both looked at him.
"Let's go, Minato, the next mission is about to begin."
"Okay."
Minato Namikaze quickly finished the dango in his hand and was ready in no time.
"Then, see you next time, Yueshu."
"See you next time, brat. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to you coming over."
"Yes, see you next time."
Jiraiya started walking, with Minato Namikaze following behind.
Their figures weren't very tall, but those two backs somehow made Yueshu feel a little cool.
In Hokage, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze were well-known manly men, the kind who stood tall and proud—one a hero, one a Hokage. The lives of both master and disciple were tragic.
Watching Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya's backs slowly fade, for some reason, Yueshu's hand gripping the dango couldn't help but clench tighter.
He gripped it very, very tightly.